The Subaru TRAX STI & Sleigh

DC Co-Founder Ken Block commissioned Vermont SportsCar to make the world’s fastest cat track operation automobile for back-country snowboarding access. The creation was dubbed the TRAX STI. The TRAX STI pulls a custom hand-built sleigh with room for four. The duo made its public debut at the 2009 SEMA show in the Subaru of America booth.

THE CAR: The TRAX STI is rally-prepared and very close in specification to Subaru Rally Team USA’s competition rally cars, with the exception of the Mattracks rubber track system. Vermont SportsCar first begins with a stock 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI right off the showroom floor. The car’s interior is then stripped bare and the shell lightened then fully seam welded for added strength. A multipoint roll cage, manufactured from T45 steel, is then welded into place. The interior features lightweight carbon/Kevlar RECARO SPA ProRacer competition seats (w/HANS- Head and Neck Restraint System), carbon fiber door panels and an onboard Fire Suppression System.

The car features Group N competition rally dampers made by EXE-TC and a KAPS 5-speed close-ratio dog-engagement gearbox. Under the hood sits a 2.5 liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled STI engine tuned with a MOTEC M800 ECU.

THE SLEIGH: The sleigh’s body is 100% custom designed and constructed with hand-laid firberglass using sandwich-core construction. It features a carbon fiber dashboard, center tunnel cover and rear-cooler cover. The interior floor surfaces are covered with a spray-on polyurethane bedliner. Protected beneath the padded roll bars are four heated and embroidered leather RECARO Speed seats with Sabelt 4pt harnesses.

A marine grade water resistant Alpine digital media receiver is coupled with marine grade Kicker speakers and 10” subwoofer. The rear of the sleigh features a large cooler and a grab-bar for towing any snowboarders. Cup holders and LED lighting finish-off the interior and tucked into a glove-box within the custom carbon fiber covered dashboard are two Viosport POV.1 camera systems. One camera lens is flush mounted within the dashboard to film the passengers, while the other camera is mounted high on the roll bar to record the action unfolding around the sleigh